National Association of Broadcasters: Repack Time, Money Insufficient

A broadcaster witness representing the National Association of Broadcasters told a Senate panel that broadcasters still don't think the 39-month timetable for repacking TV stations after the incentive auction and the $1.75 billion relocation fund will be sufficient. That came at a spectrum hearing in the Senate Communications Subcommittee, where numerous senators praised the medium and urged that neither it nor the viewers that depended on broadcasting be adversely affected in the repack. Pat LaPlatney, president or Raycom Media, who has testifying on behalf of NAB, said 22 of his stations alone would have to move, including a couple that would require putting new antennas on existing towers weighing thousands of pounds more than the previous antenna. He said broadcasters would work collaboratively and make the transition as quickly and efficiently as possible but that it was a complicated process.

Ranking Member Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) said he was concerned that viewers could lose access to local news during the transition and asked if there was not a way to balance the desire for faster broadband with the need to protect access to local news. Sen Schatz got the commitment from Scott Bergmann, VP of regulatory affairs for CTIA, that he would work collaboratively with Congress and broadcasters to insure a smooth transition, but Bergman included the caveat that 39 months was an eternity to wait for the $20 billion worth of broadcast spectrum bought in the auction and said he thought the FCC could hold to that timetable.